Spacetime and flux tube S-matrices at finite coupling for N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Aug 30;111(9):091602. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.091602. Epub 2013 Aug 30.

Abstract

We propose a nonperturbative formulation of planar scattering amplitudes in N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, or, equivalently, polygonal Wilson loops. The construction is based on the operator product expansion approach and introduces a new decomposition of the Wilson loop in terms of fundamental building blocks named pentagon transitions. These transitions satisfy a simple relation to the worldsheet S matrix on top of the so-called Gubser-Klebanov-Polyakov vacuum which allows us to bootstrap them at any value of the coupling. In this Letter we present a subsector of the full solution which we call the gluonic part. We match our results with both weak and strong coupling data available in the literature.